The first Jewish atheist monthly will start publication here in Moscow on Sunday, March 1st., under the name “Der Apikoires”, for the purpose of carrying on anti-religious propaganda among the Jewish masses.
The journal will be a militant fighter against nationalism, which is a “half-brother” to all religions, the announcement says. While fighting religion in general, it is added, “Der Apikoires” will, of course, aim primarily at the Jewish religion in particular, since it addresses itself to Jewish readers in the Yiddish language.
It will battle against both “the Pope of Rome and the Rabbi of Lubavitch”. It will also militantly oppose the Zionist movement, the Bund and such “social fascists” as Abramovitch.
The anti-religious work of the Jewish Section will be concentrated around the “Apikories”. The anti-religious propaganda among the Jews, a writer in the “Emess” complains, has so far been very ineffective. It is intended to utilise the new atheist publication to liven up this work, by setting on foot a militant anti-religious campaign in all Jewish parts of the country, but more especially in White Russia and the Ukraine.
It is not yet clear whether the fixing of March 1st., about a month before Passover, has been fixed for the first appearance of the “Apikoires” in order to make it possible to concentrate on an anti-matzoth campaign in the Soviet Union, but the manner in which the Rabbi of Lubavitch is si led out for attack in the prospectus of the journal suggests that something of the kind may be intended and that the Jewish anti-religious leaders in Moscow are familiar with the Rabbi’s recent appeal to Jews in foreign lands to send five kilo packages of flour for the baking of matzoths to their relatives and friends in the Soviet Union.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
